Golf putter



Feb. 12, 1963 H. KOORLAND GOLF PUTTER Filed May '7, 1959 INVENTOR.

HENR Y KOORL AND BY ATTORN- 3,077,350 GOLF PUTTER Henry Koorland, 4657 Victory Parkway, Cincinnati, Ohio Filed May 7, 1959, Ser. No. 811,655 1 Claim. (Cl. 273-464) This invention relates to a golf club, and more particularly to a unique putter head. H An object of the invention is to provide a putter head which is so constructed whereby to enable the user of the device to accurately aim and/ or align a golf ball with the cup or hole in a green.

Another object of the invention is to provide a putter head which is so constructed as to locate the hands of a golfer directly over the center of the golf ball when the forward face of the head is in contacting relationship with the ball.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a putter head which includes a body portion and a shank which are inter-related whereby to provide a pendulum effect when a golf ball is hit for thereby imparting a top spin to the ball.

These and other objects are attained by the means described herein and as disclosed in the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a front plan view of a putter head embodying the details of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the putter head of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a front end elevation of the putter head of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a side plan view of that side of the putter head opposite FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken on line 55 of FIG. 4.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken on line 6-6 of FIG. 4.

With reference now to the drawings, the numeral 10 denotes generally a putter head which comprises a body portion 12 and a shank portion 14. In the preferred embodiment of the invention, the body and shank portions are integral and may comprise a unitary casting, forging or the like. The numeral 16 denotes generally a typical shaft the lower end of which is suitably secured to the upper end of the shank as at 18, by any conventional means, not pertinent to this disclosure.

The body portion 12 includes a forward axial or striking face 2-0, note FIGS. 3, 5 and 6. in the preferred embodiment of the invention, the rear face of the body portion is so proportioned whereby to dispose the mass of the body portion at or closely adjacent the lower edge thereof as at 22, it being noted that rear face 24 may, as best illustrated in FIGS. 5 and 6, approach the forward axial face toward upper edge 26.

r The shank comprises an outer or upstanding leg 30 and an intermediate, substantially horizontal leg 32. As best illustrated in FIG. 6, intermediate leg 32 of the shank extends upwardly from, forwardly of and in a plane normal to axial face 20. It should likewise be noted that the intermediate leg 32 is connected to substantially the mid point of the rear half of the body portion, for thereby providing portions of the forward axial face 20 on opposite sides of the intermediate portion wherein approximately of said axial face is disposed forwardly of said intermediate leg.

SflYZEEfi Patented Pele. 12, 15953 The outer or upstanding leg 3!} includes an axis which is disposed in substantial parallelism with the forward axial face 20; and in the preferred embodiment of the invention the axis of leg 3t} is spaced forwardly from axial face 2%) by a dimension substantially equal to the radius of a golf ball B.

By the construction I have provided simple yet highly effective means for locating shank 16 of the golf club and the hands of the golfer substantially directly over the center of the ball when the forward axial face 20 of the head engages the outer periphery of the ball.

With particular reference now to PEG. 5, it will be noted that the relationship of the axis of leg 30' with forward axial face 20, and the relationship of mass 22 with reference to forward face 29, will result in a weight distribution of the putter head which will provide a pendulum effect so that when the ball B is struck incident to a putting stroke, a top spin will be imparted to the ball, which spin will impart greater accuracy and result in a longer and straighter roll of the ball than has heretofore been obtainable using other types of putters with which I am familiar.

The intermediate leg 32, as best illustrated in FIG. 6, likewise provides an eflicient direction pointer or indicator which the golfer may utilize as sighting means for determing the precise path and direction along axis x-x which the ball B will take when struck with forward axial face 20 of the putter head.

It will be noted that lower face 4%) of the head may be inclined upwardly from the lower edge of forward axial face 20 for thereby precluding any portion of the club from being accidentally or unintentionc ly dragged over the turf incident to a practice or putting stroke with the club.

It should be understood that various changes and modifications may be made, within the scope of the appended claim, without departing from the spirit of the invention.

What is claimed is:

A golf putter club comprising a putter head including a body portion and a shank portion, said shank portion including an outer leg and an intermediate leg, said body portion including a forward striking face adapted to be positioned in substantially a vertical plane when the putter is in ball striking position, said intermediate leg extending forwardly of said forward face and lying in a plane extending normally of said face and terminating in said outer leg the axis of which is substantially parallel with said face and spaced forwardly from said forward face by substantially the radius of a golf ball, said intermediate leg joining the body portion at approximately midway of the rear half of said body portion, and a shaft having the lower end thereof secured to the upper end of the outer leg of said shank and extending in axial alignment with said outer leg of said shank and sub stantially parallel with said face whereby the hands of a golfer when employing the putter are disposed substantially directly over a portion of the ball when the forward axial face of the body portion engages the outer periphery of a golf ball to thereby provide better control when striking the golf ball and to enable accurate sighting for determining the precise path and direction which the ball will take when struck with the forward axial face of the body portion.

(References on following page) References Citefi in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 4 Hincks Mar. 21, 1929 Carr Ian. 14, 1930 Morrison Ian. 21, 1958 FOREIGN PATENTS Great Britain 1900 Great Britain 1937 Great Britain 1955 

